Of Dinner, Books and Understanding
by walkingfire
Summary: One-shot. What was simply a call to dinner becomes a little bit more as Homura attempts to figure out where he stands in regard to his Ashikabi. Male Homura/Kagari x Minato. Shounen-ai. Rated M for cursing and for safety.


Hello everyone!

I hope y'all enjoy this fanfic I wrote. The idea struck me suddenly and I just had to get it on paper. Or rather, the Internet.

I totally love Kagari/Homura and prefer him as a male, so I wanted to get a fic out there with him as one and paired with Minato (I can't seem to find that many!). And I believe Minato can be totally bishie at times to be honest.

Once again, I'd like to remind you readers that this is a Male Kagari/Homura x Sahashi Minato fiction. All though the content is light-to-medium in my opinion, there is yaoi present. If you're squeamish or don't like the idea, the ability to change the page is all yours.

That being said, I'd also like to state that I don't own the manga/anime Sekirei but the plot of this story is mine. Any similarities of the books, names, people, locations and such is purely coincidental and unintended.

And now, please continue onto my fanfic and hopefully review afterwords. Thanks!

* * *

><p>During the evening, Homura would read.<p>

He couldn't before, what with his guardian duties, which he took very seriously, or working as a host, which usually started very early in the evening, and ended very late in the morning. From morning through evening, he'd sleep, re-energizing for the night ahead. To the streets of New Tokyo or to the lovely ladies of his phone-book he went.

Recycle and repeat.

But he couldn't anymore.

When the "feminization" started to happen, there was no way he could escort his women any longer. He was sure most of them would be heavily mortified, but for all he knew, some of them would be waving more money in his face. Homura had neither a desire to find out which of his clientele belonged to which group, nor a desire to shock and disgust them. So slowly, one by one, he called Megumi, called Chihiro...

"Hey, sorry, yes my condition worsened."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry..." They would coon back to him, "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, no, I'll be fine. You just enjoy yourself tonight." And they would, likely with whoever replaced him as Number One by now. Not that he blamed them for it. Such was the nature of his work.

Regarding his status as the Sekirei Guardian, well that was obsolete now. All 108 little birds had found their respective Ashikabis, for better or for worse. There was no need for him to guard a Sekirei from a forced winging or pervert, from the harassment of Hikari and Hibiki. The next stage had been set.

As such, he was a free man, mostly. So he read.

The books were starting to pile in his once bare room. At first, it was just the ones he picked out. Then as the residents of Izumo Inn heard about his new hobby, they began to contribute as well. Books from Miya, Kuu, and Matsu came in first, then surprisingly Kazehana, and even more surprisingly Tsukiumi and Musubi. Granted, the last two contributed books that were, at times, on the same level as the ones Kuu brought in, but it was heartening nonetheless. Homura taped his fingers across the page he was reading absentmindedly, an amused smile crossing his face. Before, none of them would approach him as often as this; they were friendly, to be sure, but his door was usually closed to all Sekirei. It was how he, as Kagari and Homura, worked.

But one person had crashed into his life that changed all that. Homura's face became hard-set as he bookmarked the page he was on and swung off the bed. He walked over to the stack of books that sat near his window, the one pile set aside from the rest. It was the stack that Sahashi Minato had offered to him after everyone's insistence. Homura, in turn, accepted it as normally as he accepted everyone else's. Normal, normal, normal. But a tiny spark in him danced and jumped with happiness. And quickly he extinguished it. Yet here Sahashi's present lay, separate and clearly more important than the rest.

Homura let out a sigh at the thought, slamming his hand down into the tall stack. And, this is how his thought pattern worked after the winging, elation at some points followed by revulsion soon after. What was he doing? He was a man wasn't he? Then why all the special fucking treatment?

And such it went.

He continued to look out at the darkening sky before his ears picked up some voices. Or rather, screaming.

"UWAH!" A male voice shouted out in shock, "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUCHING MATSU-SAN!"

"Fufufu..." The creepy computer expert laughed in return, "You called me down for dinner correct? And I just said I'd rather eat you so... LET THE EXPERIMENTING BEGIN MINA-TAN!"

This was followed by quick speed-walking, one pair of footsteps followed by another. And judging by the sound, they were coming in his direction. Homura snorted, closed his eyes for a second and opened the door. Stepping aside to let the distressed Minato in, he then faced the doorway, watching as Matsu realized too late where she was.

Homura simply snapped his fingers in her direction and gleaming, blazing fire erupted from their tips, giving Matsu her classic afro after a second or two.

"Hmph..." Matsu coughed and grumpily began attempting to fix her hair, "I wasn't _really _going to eat him... Or at the very least, I would have left some for you too Homura-ta..." She trailed off as the Fire Sekirei fixed her with one of his most dazzling smiles, one that melted women like butter and allowed him to rise to the top of New Tokyo's nightlife.

"Matsu..." He said calmly, the smile still present, "I've been working on a new fire technique recently. One especially for you. It makes your lovely afro twice as large as usual and melts your glasses onto your face. I call it Matsu-Spray Mark Two." His smile blossomed, "Care to test it out?"

"N-n-n-no. No, Matsu is fine!"

"Then go down to dinner."

Homura swore he never saw Matsu run that fast. But halfway in her decent she stopped and giggled, looking at Homura with a gleam reflected in her glasses, "Don't keep Mina-tan too long, or we'll start to worry." She cackled and flew down the stairs as Homura aimed again.

"Thanks Kagari-san."

Homura stepped back inside and sighed for a second time. He then closed the door, leaned against it and turned to face the timid object of his mental torment.

Sahashi Minato was never much to look at at first. With his twig of a body, poor hair and sheepish smile, he was the type to move people either to pity or scorn. But if you looked closer and were with him often enough, you would notice the messy hair framed his face quite well and that his body was simply lean, built muscle, that his eyes were filled with caring for those he... Kagari stopped and cursed vividly in his head. WHAT WAS HE DOING?

"Erm... Kagari-san?"

Homura sent a glare in the youth's direction before quickly erasing it from his face. It wasn't Sahashi's fault that he turned out to be an Ashikabi. And Sahashi had winged him simply as a concerned friend, nothing more, he reminded himself firmly.

"What is it Sahashi?" He tried for a friendly smile, "Dinner right? I'll be going down soon."

"Mhmm." Satisfied that he delivered the message, Minato began to look around at the room. Homura realized that of all the residents of the Inn, Sahashi visited his room the least. Part of him was heavily disappointed with that fact, but the majority of his brain, the more rational part, approved; it would be awkward and weird if Sahashi frequented too often. But his Ashikabi hadn't visited after delivering his suggestions and now he was crouched over the new stacks of books with his back to Homura, looking over all of them in interest, dinner apparently forgotten.

"Fine Wineries and Vintage Brands of the United States..." He murmured and then quirked his lips, "Kazehana?"

Homura chortled, "Yeah. She read it saying she wanted to expand her knowledge of alcoholic beverages and then recommended it to me."

The dark-haired youth laughed and continued to sort through the books, "Smoky the Lonely Dragon..." He sprouted into a smile as he recalled the title, "Me and Kuu-chan read this together one day!"

"She insisted I read it, but also insisted that I give it back to her as soon as I was done because it was an important memory for her and her Onii-chan." Homura replied, watching as Sahashi lightly blushed, scratching the back of his head and smiling abashedly, "What's it about?"

Minato answered while shifting through more books, "Smoky was sent out by his mom to make some friends, but animals ran away from him because he was different and scary. Smoky eventually gave up and stayed aloof from everyone else, but while he was resting on a farm, he met a small sheep, one that was friendly, and wise enough to know that the dragon was simply lonely, sad and tired. The two became friends and eventually all the other animals became friends with him too. In the end, all the characters have a party and Smoky writes back to his mom that he's happy..."

"I see..." Homura was silent for a bit. It seemed like some parts of the book were a little to close to home and he slightly regretted asking. Minato seemed to realize this too; mentally smacking himself, the Ashikabi rubbed the back of his neck and tried for a joke, "Sorry for ruining the book for you." He chuckled.

Homura winced and gave Sahashi a feeble smile, "Don't worry about it." He inwardly shook his head and went for his casual poker-face. He wouldn't let Sahashi think that he needed taking care of, that his pitiful, hurt feelings had to be fixed and bandaged.

Minato's chuckles faded, and an awkward silence fell between the two, crackling and resounding throughout the room. Kagari coughed and Minato began to re-stack the books he had moved.

"Kagari-san, Minato-san! Dinner's waiting!" Musubi's voice from down the stairs cut through the door and startled the two men.

Homura cleared his throat, and his heart, "Well, let's go Sahashi."

"Mhmm... I'm almost done and... there." Minato got up and dusted his pants as he surveyed the group of books. Satisfied that he had cleaned up, he nodded once and turned. Minato started to walk towards Homura, only to slip on a stray book still left on the floor.

"Sahashi!" Homura started forward, attempted to grab the youth but by then it was too late. He, his books and his Ashikabi thudded to the floor.

Homura's eyes widened as he looked below him. Sahashi was pinned under his body, his eyes closed in pain, still reeling from the fall. Homura bowed his head as the spark from before roared into a flaming dragon that enveloped his body, burning through his reason, logic and being.

LOOK HE'S RIGHT HERE! It shouted at him. TAKE HIM! TAKE HIM! MAKE HIM YOURS! Vivid images began shuffling through his mind like film reel; Sahashi stripped down in front of him, moaning, blushing, his back arching as Homura did what he would with him. His fingers closed around Sahashi's wrists as these thoughts continued. But suddenly, his opposite pattern of thought replied.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OFF OF HIM! DON'T TOUCH HIM! YOU'RE DISGUSTING! THIS IS SICK! A voice growled and sounded through him. His body began to heat up with rage as these lashings continued. Homura clenched his teeth in frustration. What was he doing?

His thoughts clashed and banged in his head, attacking, biting, flaming each other as two dragons locked in combat would do. Homura felt like his head would burst and he wanted to scream out in agony and despair.

"K-Kagari-san?" The sheep under him timidly questioned. Sahashi was blushing furiously; Homura knew it was because the virgin was getting a good view of his breasts. But how he could rectify his Ashikabi's sexual situation... STOP THAT'S DISGUSTING!

Homura's face had not been visible to Sahashi since they fell. But now Homura brought it up, desire, revolt, anguish, want, confusion and a whole slew of other emotions flickering and dancing in his eyes like lighted candles. Sahashi visibly flinched under him and his eyes widened.

_No doubt he thinks you're a freak..._ A voice in his head snickered in repulsion.

Sahashi tugged on his right hand, signaling he wanted to be released. After a moment of hesitation, Homura did as his Ashikabi desired and let go. He waited, for the horror, the rebuke, or hell even the punch that Sahashi was about to blow.

But Sahashi Minato did none of these things.

Instead Sahashi put a hand to Homura's cheek, "Kagari-san are you not feeling well? Your face looks really pained." He said worriedly, genuine concern evident in his eyes as he moved his hand up to Homura's forehead, "And it feels like you're really burning up! We should get you to a doctor right away!"

Homura looked incredulously at him, searching for some form of suspicion, or anger, or hate. But he could only find kindness. The warmth in Sahashi's hand rolled into him, a cleansing fire that banished his uneasy, painful thoughts and conflicts away, leaving him with a calm quiet instead.

TAKE HIM! DISGUSTING! Take Him! Disgusting! take hi...

"...That is my dolt of an Ashikabi..." He muttered to himself. But he said so without feeling. The warmth, the care that had reached him when he was first winged returned again and put him at peace. Homura knew it would only last for a time before the conflict returned, but for now, he was fine.

"Did you say something?"

Homura got off of Sahashi and crouched on the floor. He looked over at the youth and shrugged casually, "I'm the Fire Sekirei remember? There will be times when my body will be hotter than most. It's nothing to worry about." Minato's face bloomed with relief as Homura carried on speaking, "Thank you for your concern though." Homura got up and offered Minato a hand.

Minato nodded and clasped hands with Kagari. Rising, he relaxed his grip and was about to head over to the door when his Sekirei's hand tightened on his. He turned back to Kagari, his face showing just a touch of confusion.

Homura gave him a small smile. He released his own grip until he was left with Sahashi's fingers. Homura bent over Sahashi's knuckles, paused and said once more, "Thank you." He raised the hand to his lips and murmured into it, but loud enough for Sahashi to hear, "_Arigato... Boku no taisetsu na nakama_...*"

Homura didn't linger; letting the fingers slip through his dropped hand, he went to the door frame before looking back at his Ashikabi. If Sahashi was confused before, it had become even more evident on his face, and a light pink hue complimented the expression.

"Sahashi if we don't hurry up, Miya will scold us till tomorrow and who knows what kind of weird rumors Kazehana and Matsu have started by now. Let's go." Homura inclined his head at him and walked out, a hand raised in his signature backwards salute.

Sahashi looked at his hand for a moment before smiling innocently, all the trouble washed away from his face, "Yeah!" He nodded and caught up to Homura.

And so, the two went down to dinner.

**FIN**

* * *

><p>*Thank you... my important friend...<p>

I hope those of you who read it liked this story and I thank you for reading it. Please feel free to review, it would really help me out!


End file.
